Ulises Segura woke up early. He knew this would be a hard morning. As he sat with his wife and daughter, eating a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of rice, beans and eggs called Gallo Pinto, he couldn’t help but think back to his childhood in the rugged, tropical country.
He came from a family of medical practitioners, each with an “-ist” at the end of their titles, making money with their hands. But Segura always preferred to work with his feet; he joined Saprissa, a powerful Costa Rican soccer club, at 6 years old. He soaked up every lesson about conditioning and tactics and, when he reached the club’s top team, it won three straight league championships.